US should apologise unambiguously, says Nath

Amid outrage over the treatment meted out to Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said an apology by the U.S. “for the sake of formality” would not help and it should accept its mistake in “unambiguous terms”.

“A regret for the sake of formality is not enough. They should apologise in unambiguous terms and accept their mistake,” he told reporters.

Mr. Nath said all countries should draw a lesson from the incident and “raise their voice” whenever such a thing takes place.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Wednesday described as “deplorable” the way the diplomat was treated in the U.S.

There is a strong demand that Ms. Khobragade be released unconditionally and all the charges against her dropped.

The government has taken a strong view of the diplomat’s ill-treatment and announced a series of steps to strip US diplomats and their families of privileges, including withdrawing all airport passes and stopping import clearances for the Embassy, including for liquor.

The 39-year-old Ms. Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was taken into custody last week on a street in New York as she was dropping her daughter to school and handcuffed in public on visa fraud charges before being released on a $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.

She has been transferred to the Indian Mission to the UN to give her fuller diplomatic immunity.

Alan, That is India for you. Indian Government does not give a damn about ordinary citizen (in this case, the maid) but will do more for the so-called elite (diplomat) even if they break other country's laws.
I wish that USA goes after the diplomat and find all the wrongdoings of her and punish her appropriately.

from:
Shekar

Posted on: Dec 20, 2013 at 00:11 IST

US should surely apologize, but for the ill-treatment and derogatory search the official was meted out. I see no case for dropping the VISA fraud charges. If it is crime, she should be punished as per the prevailing Law.

from:
Rahul

Posted on: Dec 19, 2013 at 16:03 IST

As an American with Indian heritage, I am appalled at the manner in which this case is being addressed by the Indian government and the Indian media as well.

The Indian government has chosen the wrong issue to challenge the US on. The US simply cannot drop the charges filed against Ms. Khobragade, that is not how we work in the US. She is alleged to have lied to the US government. It is also distressing that the Indian government has chosen to blindly support its consular staff, Ms. Khobragade, and cast aside the experience of domestic help on whose basis the charges have been filed.

The Indian media is perhaps the worst in the civilized world, crying for blood at every instance without ascertaining the facts. Someone ought to sue them silly one of these days.

And if any Indian thinks that the US will give them an unambiguous apology for this event so far, you live in fantasy world.